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Published: Nov 10, 2009 Author: Sam Curley Editor: Amber Lupala Provider: Coolink Share this article:

Testing and Conclusion

Testing and Conclusion:

To test the fans, I installed a 120mm mountable CPU heatsink (Thermalright AXP-140) and using Coretemp, record CPU Idle and Load temperatures with an array of fans including an ambient test as a control. The final numbers were achieved by averaging every core's temperature (recorded every 10 seconds) over a twenty minute period. This test serves to give us a real world idea of performance.

System Used:

• Intel Core i7 @ 2.66Ghz
• ATI Radeon 4870x2
• AXP-140 CPU Heatsink
• (3x) Patriot Warp V2 32GB SSD's (RAID0)
• Coolermaster Cosmos S Full-Tower
• MSI X58 Pro Motherboard
• Corsair 620HX PSU

I was visibly surprised with just how quiet the Coolink fans were compared to their stock complements. The Coolink 1201 and 92mm fans were truly whisper quiet, in order to hear any noise you have to hold the fan to your ear. Yet, even while being so quiet, they still pushed a substantial amount of air (54.6CFM and 32.4CFM respectively) cooling the CPU noticeably . On the other hand however, the 120P on high pushed a huge amount of air (74CFM) but in doing so was considerably louder than the 1201, largely due to the vibrations against the heatsink it was causing. But even with that in mind, it dropped the CPU temperature much more than any of the other fans, making up for its noise output. (If the included rubber mounts are used, a large portion of the noise is eliminated) Finally, looking at the 80mm, it achieved a lower CPU temperature whilst also being much quieter than the Apevia counterpart.

Conclusion:

I'm really impressed with the offerings of Coolink's new SWiF2 fans, they managed to hit the sweet spot between noise and airflow. The new series is a huge improvement over the original series, and is a valid contender in both the high-performance and silent fan market. Although I would've liked to see a 140mm version, as more and more cases are supporting larger fans, it's barely a con. With a warranty of 60 months, and fans priced at $13.40 (€11.90) for the 120mm versions, and $11.90 (€9.90) for the 92mm and 80mm versions. The SWiF2 series is directly competing against the top-fans on the market. As a concluding test, I pulled out every fan in my case except for the two Coolink 120mm's, and the side panel's 230mm and booted the computer. The only noise I could hear at all was the hard drive starting up, and then silence.  Although the expression 'whisper quiet' is thrown around a lot, the SWiF2 deserves the expression without a doubt.  So, if you're not distracted by the 'nuclear radiation' color scheme, and you're looking for an inaudible fan solution, I would definitely recommend the SWiF2 series. 

 
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures

Pro's:
+ Competitive Pricing
+ Whisper Quiet 
+ 60 Month Warranty
+ Good Noise-to-Airflow Ratio

Con's:
- Lack of a 140mm version
- Rather Subjective Color Scheme